


Shining

by Prime627



Category: The Shining - Stephen King, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Atsushi is the cutest six year old in the world, Chuuya is secretly in love with the idea of children, Chuuya-dad, Depends on how badly I want to kill a hat rack, F/M, Genderbent Kunikida, Kunikida-mom, Maybe - Freeform, Now I can't stop, OC, Oops, Probs won't, Started as a Joke, Stephen King sends Aspiring Corruption to the Overlook, There May Be Death, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, female!Kunikida, halp, porn with plot?, there IS a plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-11-06 22:48:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11045946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prime627/pseuds/Prime627
Summary: The Mafia has collected a new dog, Mafioso Stephen King. Like Poe, his ability sends his prey to a land of his creation, but instead of solving a riddle, the victims must live to the end. However, King has made this virtually impossible, as trials and horrors alike await to run down on Kunikida and his family. He does his best to protect, but maybe there are things that he's just not able to do? Will he lose his beloved as Stephen King plots, or will he fight the script and make the story work to tell the perfect happily ever after story?





	1. Chapter 1

Kunikida Doppo knew two things in the showdown again Mafioso Stephen King. 1, Chuuya looked surprisingly good in an Agency uniform. 2, this was going to be an interesting night.

“My ability!” crowed Stephen, “The Shining!”

And with a flash of light, Kunikida, Chuuya, and Atsushi were wisked away to a land imagined just for them.

* * *

When Kunikida awoke, he was driving a car. Chuuya was snoring beside him. Atsushi was in the back.

That was the second thing he noticed. The first was that he was driving on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD and there was a STEERING WHEEL in his hands.

“Chuuya,” Kunikida said calmly, hoping to rouse his husband from his sleep. He turned to adjust with the road curling steadfastly around the mountain.

“What the fuck happened?” Chuuya groaned, opening one eye and then closing it before both flew open and he gaped out the windshield, grabbing at a steering wheel that wasn't there. “Damn! How did we get up here?!” He swung his head around to glare at Kunikida. “What trickery is this, Doppo?”

“This is not my doing.” He glanced back at Atsushi and had to do a double take.

Atsushi was, at least, six or seven years old now, perched sleepily in a car seat. At another glance down at himself, he noticed he had-

“Chuuya…”

“Why do you have boobs?” Chuuya hesitated and slowly looked down his shirt to make sure his own chest hadn't gone and made breasts. Then he gave Kunikida’s new growths a curious poke. “Oh, Kida...now I can be on top.”

Kunikida whined. There went their romantic weekend…

* * *

Kunikida eventually ran out of road to drive on, and when they stopped, it was in front of a hotel called The Overlook.

Kunikida sighed audibly.

“Well. This is just fantastic.”

Chuuya shrugged, climbing out. People were standing there, in front of the hotel, waiting. “Here's our chance to finally get answers. Grab the cub and let’s go.”

Kunikida climbed out of the front and carefully lifted Atsushi out of his seat. Then he followed Chuuya up the steps to the men waiting.

“Hello,” one purred, clearly interested in the trio. The second was disinterested, that was, until he saw Atsushi. He became most intrigued by his hair, his clothes, and Kunikida often found him rubbing his back, much to his surprisingly strong sense of dislike.

Chuuya rescued him, only to be cut off.

“You must be the Torrances!”

Chuuya’s blue eyes blazed with fire and he growled through his teeth, “Yup…”

Kunikida thought back to how they got here.

Stephen King had a huge metal type writer in his hands when they stepped into the alley that night, a stack of papers beside him. He had made a trap, much like Poe, except…

There was no solving the riddle to escape.

There was only living till the end.

What kind of awful horrors laid in wait behind these doors?

They needn't have worried if they would survive.

In the story, all but one made it out alive and safe.

The men were showed around, Kunikida getting more and more irritated with his new breasts and Chuuya less and less interested in the talk.

Did Kunikida get new equipment to match his breasts?

* * *

Chuuya stood in the middle of the large kitchen, gazing around at all the equipment he would never have to touch. Clinging to his hand was Atsushi, who voiced his confusion quietly and insistently. Chuuya found himself stroking his head or back absently and often picking him up when his little legs slowed them down.

The man listed off the amount of food that had been put away for the family of three, and insisted that while the amount was way much more than the three of them could ever eat they were going to be trapped in the hotel and mountain area for four to six months while the snow melted.

"You know Mother Nature," the man purred. "She's gets a twist in her panties and everyone suffers."

"Sounds about right," Chuuya sighed, running his hands over the frozen hamburger. He didn't know how to cook much, but with Atsushi's appetite...would this even begin to be enough?

Between him and Kunikida, maybe they could make it work...

Maybe.

***

Kunikida stared down at the bar table after he was left alone. The men were preparing to leave and soon it would be just himself, Chuuya, and Atsushi. He began to ask himself why he didn't ask them to stay, to help them figure it out, but he realized that not only were they trapped here, they were forced to play as close as they possibly could to the script, so straying too far out of bounds was a no-no.

In that case, perhaps he should have taken Atsushi to the kitchen instead of being given the amazing tour of the Overlook. But why had he driven and not Chuuya?

"Maybe King got a little bored," he wondered aloud. "That has to be it..."

It had to be.

He pushed himself to his feet and he walked to find his husband and the cub, finding both lounging in the couches by the sign-in counter. Atsushi had found toys and was running the cars around on the floor, probably to keep the act of a six year old child going as long and as much as he could while the men were still there...but most likely, his eighteen-year-old mind had been reduced to that to match his age.

Chuuya had his head in his hands, his hat beside him. He was rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes, growling and muttering, kicking the cars Atsushi rolled his way back to him. When he felt Kunikida beside him, he leaned into him, used to be the submissive one, but then he sat up and pulled Kida against him, chuckling darkly in his ear.

"You wait till they leave and I get the brat to sleep..."

Kunikida blushed and whimpered. Something between his legs buzzed to life, hot and slick. He gasped and sat up, slowly rolling his hips to grind into the couch in order to smother his arousal, but Chuuya watched in an amused way, tuning himself into his husband's (wife's?) new needs.

The men came only to bid them farewell, and before Kunikida could blink, they had taken off.

"Tch," Chuuya said, snatching the cub off the floor. "Lunchtime snackie for you, Nakajima, and then it's naptime."

"He's too old for naptime," Kunikida said, standing and praying he wasn't...leaking anywhere.

Chuuya winked at him. "Mhm. Don't stall." He looked at Atsushi slowly, kissing his temple quickly as he marched to the kitchen, his hips swaying in just the right way that would have made Kunikida follow him and pin him against any flat surface, but now all he wanted was chase after him and bend over.

Kunikida watched his redhead as he cooked rice and put some in a small bowl. Then he poured hot tea over it and set it down in Atsushi's lap, licking his fingers clean from where tea got on them. Atsushi squealed, hardly disappointed by the lack of chicken and other spices, and started shoveling the food into his mouth with a large spoon. Kunikida leaned against the doorway and chuckled as he watched.

Chuuya crossed his arms and watched the weretiger gobble down the food. "I thought you'd like something along those lines..." He reached out, rubbing his head and ruffling his hair. "It was my favorite, too, a long time ago." He chuckled and took the empty bowl from him, helping him up from the floor and sighing at the leftover rice before shrugging and putting a lid on it. "Time for naptime." He knelt and lifted Atsushi, kissing his cheek. "And when you wake, we'll have an early dinner ready!"

"Ooh~!"

* * *

Kunikida laid sprawled on the bed, breathing heavily. Chuuya hadn't even entered the room (as he had been ordered to read Atsushi a bedtime story), but it felt unbearably hot from all the thoughts and scenarios racing through his head. He lifted his legs and splayed them out, gasping and arching. The seam in the crotch of his slacks pushed through his briefs in just the way. The sensation was like electricity, and it was all Kunikida could do to keep quiet.

When he looked at the doorway, Chuuya was there, smirking. "My dear Kida doll..." He walked to him, slowly climbing onto the bed to stradle his hips. He put his hat on the nightstand and then he looked down at Kunikida. "You're all hot and bothered, aren't you?" He snickers, running his hand down his cheek and to his chest, where two hands landed and groped. Kunikida just stared up at him with a mix of horror and arousal.

"Calm down, Kida, baby. I won't hurt you. It might even feel good." He chuckled and dropped a kiss on his mouth, getting up and snapping his fingers for Kunikida to kneel in the bed. "We've done this before, haven't we?" He kissed him again, stroking his cheek before pushing his tongue deeper in. "Mm...you need to relax, Kida..."

"You're not the one suddenly genderbent."

Chuuya smiled and he tilted his head. "I think I'd be a pretty girl...don't you think? But you get enough fun as it is back home, so I think it's my turn. Yes?" A hand went between Kunikida's thighs, stroking the fire stoking there and coaxing it to burn brighter, hotter, and wetter.

"Y-yes..."

"Good girl." He took Kida's chin in his hand, chuckling. He kissed him once more before he dropped his hands to his belt and slacks, letting both drop to the floor. He took a handful of Kunikida's hair into his hand and he pulled slightly, pulling his face closer to his stomach and hips. "I love you, Kunikida..."

At first, Kunikida was resistant. He hated the idea of his new body and Chuuya getting to use it, but when the man suggested doing things the man was familiar with, all the tension and anxiety the man had about the ordeal slipped away.

Chuuya took his head into both hands, tilting his head back as Kida's tongue pressed against his stomach and went up, pushing his shirt up to slide along his sternum. Chuuya chuckled and gasped as his neck was kissed and sucked. "Oh, remember that night?"

It wasn't hard to decifer what he meant. That night would forever be glued in their minds. It was the night of discovering who Kunikida Doppo and Nakahara Chuuya were, and it became quickly obvious that while Chuuya walked and talked like a Mafioso...He preferred life as an Agent, working by his lover, his only, and eventually...his husband. The fight with Stephen King was to be their fifteenth successful battle as husband-and-husband, Aspiring Corruption, but time would tell if it would be fifteen or the end.

Chuuya pushed Kunikida's mouth down, coaxing him to work there instead of by his neck. "That night forever changed us, Kuni..."

"Agreed!" He smiled up at him, gently pushing Chuuya's briefs down and taking the redhead's member into his mouth.

Dazai had been better at this, he remembered with a sigh. He had gotten all his pointers from him, too, unfortunately. He just wanted to know how to best surprise the man, and Dazai easily said _suck his dick. He'll go wild. It's cheap, easy, and even a beginner can do an okay job. Look..._ He had taken Kunikida to the lunchroom where he produced two popsicles from the freezer. _I'll show you,_ he began, and off went the lecture and the eventual devouring of the frozen treats.

That night, Kunikida went home to Chuuya with images swirling in his mind and the taste of strawberries on his tongue. In the morning, all he tasted was Chuuya, the redhead a jumble of limbs and hair and sheets, purring a good morning to Kunikida instead of growling at the idea of sunshine. He had a bounce in his step and a swing to his hips, things Dazai had noticed and nodded to.

"Someone had a good night," Dazai had observed. He winked at Chuuya, who shrugged.

"I suppose," he had purred, looking over at Kida and biting his lip. "We'll have to do that again."

Kunikida pulled back, panting up at Chuuya and coughing quietly. The redhead had pushed further than Kunikida knew what to do with.

"Sorry." He took his face into his hands, kissing him softly. "Did I hurt you?" Worry was in his eyes.

"I'm fine. You just surprised me, that's all."

Chuuya smiled and kissed his nose, sighing in relief. "I don't want to hurt you...never ever."

Kunikida kissed him, slowly laying back as Chuuya climbed on top. He watched lazily as Chuuya stripped him, exposing curves Kunikida never had and breasts that "begged for a taste". Kunikida didn't know how to react with his nipples getting sucked, or the soft flesh nibbled till it bloomed red, but when Chuuya's tongue left a trail down to his briefs, everything changed.

He arched up and cried out, his eyes wide and unfocused. "Nngh!"

Chuuya chuckled and shook his head, taking Kunikida's briefs in hand and pulling them smoothly down his thighs and off his legs. He spread Kunikida wide open and was content for a bit to just gaze at what his husband had gone and gotten.

Chuuya had, once upon a time, been interested in girls, yes. Both he and Dazai craved female attention and bed-warmers. What changed? Turns out girls run from you after you tell them you kill people for a living...the only one that paid attention to Chuuya was Dazai, and the reverse went for Dazai. The ones that truly loved Double Black were the two men that were apart of it, and they became even deadlier and more effecient with their chores.

Kunikida's soft protests came to his ears, rousing him from his daydreaming. "I-I'm sl-sleepy, Chuu Chuu."

Chuuya smirked at the nickname and he chuckled, shaking his head. "Mhm..." He lowered his head, mouthing at Kunikida's new opening before letting his tongue explore. He knew Kunikida like the back of his hand. He had Idealized previously being forced to comply with someone's wishes, one of his many fantasies, Chuuya supposed. While he worked, he reached for Kunikida's hand to hold, threading his fingers with his and sucking his clit into his mouth. Kunikida arched and rolled his hips, sighing softly as his eyes flickered closed.

Chuuya sat up and licked his lips, slapping his thighs apart lightly when Kunikida tried closing them. "Ah, ah, ah, doll...I'm not done."

Kunikida looked at him in a dazed way, his eyes half-lidded and his mouth fallen open. He was blushing deep red and panting quietly, but when Chuuya slid into his slick hole, his eyes flew open and he arched higher.

Chuuya was pleased to find his husband virgin-tight, his walls rippling and squeezing his length. He rocked into him, forcing more and more of himself into Kunikida, the spasming man below him redfaced and crying out with each thrust. His head was ramming straight against his cervix, making him rock with each forceful thrust. If Chuuya had the option, he would make time stretch on so that the moment would last for hours, maybe a full day.

But Chuuya felt his climax coming, and he withdrew to spatter his seed up Kunikida's stomach and onto his breasts, making the man arch into the spray.

They collapsed into a sticky pile together, not unfamiliar at all. They had their fair shares of being on top and on many occasions redecorated their husband with their seed. But this time, it was different somehow. Probably Kunikida's breasts, probably his tight heat that Chuuya could still feel pulsing around his member, but mostly, maybe it was because their chances to fuck themselves into a well-deserved nap was numbered now that they were imprisoned by a master horror-writer.

They slept the same, if restless, until Atsushi woke them with his quiet sobbings.

* * *

Kunikida stood in the kitchen, anxiously stirring the rice meal he had made with the help of chicken pieces and a thick sauce that smelled familiar and delicious. He poured it into three bowls and started up the stairs to their rooms.

Chuuya met him at the door, shaking his head. His hat was back on, of course, though the rest of him was desheveled. His shirt was crooked and wrinkled, and his slacks had been exchanged for sweats. He looked far from the Chuuya Kunikida knew, but Kunikida felt the fire reignite between his legs anyway. "What the hell is red rum?"

He blinked and tilted his head, frowning. "Red rum?"

The redhead crossed his arms. "Did I stutter? That's all the cub has been crying about. That and a man with a dog's head. Honestly, Kida, if you're telling him horror stories behind my back, I'll-"

"When would I have had the time?" Kunikida wanted to laugh at such an idea that he was the bottom of all of this, but he bit it back. Chuuya was...protective of Atsushi after swearing up and down he hated everything about kids. Even Dazai said that he wouldn't touch a kid with a ten foot pole if his life depended on it. What was changing?

Chuuya sighed and deflated, pinching between his eyes. "I...I just..." He hugged himself, looking at the bowls of food. "The fuck is that shit? Dog food?"

"Dinner."

"Gag me."

"I can't anymore."

Chuuya giggled and took his bowl and after a moment's hesitation, took Atsushi's, calling for the weretiger. "Mommy cooked us dinner! Doesn't it smell good?" Chuuya and Atsushi walked into their small kitchen, almost skipping on the way, and they ate quietly...and quickly. Kunikida ate slower, savoring each bite. When Chuuya's spoon hit the bottom of the bowl and Atsushi stared into his as though more would magically appear, Kunikida looked up.

"I'll get the pot."

Chuuya pecked him on the cheek. "You're such a sweetie, Kuni...and an amazing cook."

Kunikida felt warm all the way to the kitchen and all the way back.

* * *

Kida woke in the morning, his head on Chuuya's chest. Chuuya was stroking his hair, having finally worked it out of its pony tail, and was combing through it with his fingers.

"Good morning, sunshine," Chuuya purred, hugging him close. "How do you feel?"

"Okay, I suppose."

He kissed his head, humming. "I made breakfast."

Breakfast was eggs, sausage patties, toast and jam, and cereal for Atsushi, who refused even a spoonful of eggs.

"Such a pup," Chuuya sighed as he filled Atsushi's bowl with cereal. "If you were me when I was growing up, you'd be force-fed this slop." He gestured to the eggs, which were fluffy and perfect to Kunikida. "You're lucky you're an Agency brat...and cute as hell." He pinched his cheek fondly, kissing his head before taking a seat to kick Kida under the table. "Pass the jelly, hog."

"Oink," Kida purred. He chuckled at Atsushi's squealing laughter and he set the bowl of jam by Chuuya, sticking a knife in it.

"You know what I miss?" Chuuya swept a layer of the jam onto his toast. "Sushi."

Kunikida moaned around his mouthful of egg, wishing it was sushi. "Chuuya..."

"But we don't have any damn seaweed." He took a bite of toast and leaned over to wipe the milk off Atsushi's face between the littler man's bites. "I'd make it without the seaweed, if I knew how."

"Ugh...now I know what our mission is for lunch."

"Hell yeah."


	2. Chapter 2

Chuuya walked barefoot outside, arms crossed as he regarded the sky. It was a chilly morning, but still barefoot weather. The cup of tea in one of his hands warmed him up some, even if it was a little bit in a tiny plastic cup. He sat heavily in a cold metal chair, rocking back and sighing at the thought of spending the winter here, alone save for his wifey and the cub. It was true that they never ran out of things to do.

Chuuya had to check every room, dust it and clean various surfaces within. Then he did random maintenance, such as plumbing, repairs in ceilings and walls, waxing the hardwood halls of the second floor, and even redoing the roof with Kunikida's help. Ulman, the man that "hired them" apparently wanted them to have zero freetime, but still, Chuuya found ways to spend time with Kunikida.

While his wife made dinner, he would sneak up behind him and grind into his ass, kneading his new favorite toys perching on his chest. Once, they managed to make love in the kitchen, Kunikida bent over a pot of rice and Chuuya hilted in his lover. He spent inside him, keeping himself deep inside to give Kunikida something to squeeze. When he pulled out, it was with a gush of seed, down his thighs, across the floor. Kida was panting and redfaced, hardly able to catch his breath, and it only got worse when Chuuya dipped his head to...clean up the mess.

Yes, Chuuya and Kunikida never had a shortage of love-making ideas. They had too many things to do, and at night, when they were spent and worn, they still managed to make it work.

It always impressed Chuuya on how the terms of sex changed with each partner. With Mori, he had sex. With Dazai, he fucked. With Kunikida, he made love.

Mori used sex strictly for physical pleasure, whether or not his partner enjoyed it or not. Dazai did a little more. There was still pleasure, but more for Chuuya, and there began the hand-holding during climax. And with Kunikida, there was mutual climax, foreplay, tending to each other and themselves. The process would last hours, sometimes an entire night. They would rouse from sleep with headaches, dry mouth, but would turn to each other and sloppily kiss, tangling back up with each other to just savor each other. Forget sex. Love making was more.

* * *

Kunikida had prepared breakfast, neat and orderly as always. Atsushi was held against his hip, a book in his hands. He was reading to Kida, and despite all the times Kida turned to do something in another part of the apartment just to find a faceful of book, the blonde seemed to be enjoying it.

"Chuu Chuu!" Atsushi reached for Chuuya when the man walked back in, rubbing warmth into his arms.

"What's up, pest?" He took Atsushi from Kunikida, allowing his beloved full-range of motion again. "Have you been _reading_? You're not smart enough to read. Stay as my wittle baby." He chuckled and found himself nuzzling Atsushi. Was this what a parent was? A near-constant source of affection and praise? Everyone with abilities was most denied such luxury...everyone, except maybe Dazai, who had said on numerous times that he was one of the "lucky ones"; he had a dad that admitted Dazai's existence, a mom that had died but had loved him.

"Kida says I read good."

"Well," Kunikida corrected with a sigh. "You read well..." He smiled and wiped his hands down his apron, and the act made Chuuya heat up.

"Oh, Kida...you correcting him on his grammar is the sexiest thing you can do in an apron."

The man smirked and cocked his hips. "If that's what you think, maybe you haven't seen everything."

"Atsushi, here's your mission...gobble that food down so I can ram Kida through the bed."

Atsushi looked at him, puzzled. "Has Kida been bad?"

"Very bad."

* * *

Kunikida hissed through his makeshift gag, trembling and quivering as he hugged a pillow to his chest. Socks had been tied together to form a length of fabric, fitting itself right in Kunikida's mouth like a horse's bit and pulling his head back so he could see the top of Chuuya's head with every thrust.

His tender ass, slapped red, pressed against Chuuya's stomach. His pretty opening was stretched around Chuuya's throbbing length, and his clit was being rubbed insistently with Chuuya's hand, the other holding his petals open.

Kunikida arched and bucked through another wave of pleasure, sweat gathering on his forehead and under his pits, running down his face and down his arms and down his thighs. "C-Chuuya..."

"Are you coming yet?"

"Ahhhaaa!"

Chuuya increased his thrusting pace and rubbed a little faster, shifting and pressing deeper into him, hammering away and listening to his wife sob in esctasy around the fabric in his mouth.

Kunikida couldn't imagine where all this pleasure was coming from. He felt tension in his back where it arched, a pain in his neck at being forced so far back, the way the corners of his mouth burned in contact with the sock, and most of all? The throbbing pain where Chuuya's member kept landing: right against his cervix. But the pain was dwarfed by the amount of pleasure put in by Chuuya. The stimulation on his clit, the way he ground against Chuuya's stomach, feeling the soft skin and the muscle underneath push back against his intimates...it ignited something within Kunikida, and all he wanted was to stay in that position and take whatever Chuuya gave him.

He finally came with an arch and a spasm, his eyes rolling back in his head as he was allowed to collapse. Chuuya finished himself off quietly, spending into his hand and walking away to clean up. Then he came back with wash cloths to clean his beloved up, bringing Kida down from his climax with practiced hands, rubbing his clit and poking his entrance apart so he could clean up his beloved's arousal without stimulating him beyond his limits. He tenderly cleaned his ass, patting instead of wiping and then he rolled him over to clean his breasts and his stomach, to admire the nakedness of his wife. Kunikida watched him rub lotion into every inch of him, massaging away the pain.

Kunikida fell asleep warm and buzzing. When he woke, he slipped out of bed to make lunch, dressing in one of his shirts and nothing else.

* * *

Chuuya woke up alone in the morning, frowning in confusion. Then he smelled the delicious smells of chazuke wafting through the hotel and his stomach growled needily.

What he needed, Chuuya thought bitterly...was a drink. Red wine specifically. But the hotel had zero booze around. Not even alcohol for injuries! What kind of hell hole was this?!

Kunikida served him in bed, flaunting his lovely figure in one of his oversized shirts. Chuuya just gazed. He didn't touch. Last night was intense...

"Is the brat okay?" Chuuya sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking down at... "SUSHI?!"

Kunikida smiled and nodded, shrugging once. "I've been up for hours getting it right..."

Chuuya shoveled it in with his hands, swishing them through the soysauce and tapping them once on a dollop of wasabe. Then he laid back, groaning. "You have to make those again..."

"I've got way more fish to do it," Kida giggled. "Turns out you don't need a bamboo mat to roll them...I used a towel and a piece of plastic wrap...and a fashion magazine."

"Kida, you devil..." He purred and sat up to kiss him, pulling him close and running his hand down to his hips, then a little lower to cup his ass. "How did you get so talented in the fine arts of cooking?"

"Practice." He pecked his nose, smirking. "You could be good too, handsome."

"Tch..." He yawned and got up, stretching. He took Atsushi's lunch to him, finding him reading another book between naps. "Are the pictures at least well drawn?"

"Chazuke!"

Chuuya sat in the middle of the room with Atsushi on his lap. While the boy ate, the man read to him, smoothing down his hair and resting his cheek on his head.

That time, though, Kida was not the only one watching with grins, though the other grins were far more malicious, and only made Atsushi nervous.

They whispered to him, describing the ways they would kill Chuuya and Kunikida, and eventually Atsushi when they "no longer needed" him.

Atsushi trusted Chuuya and Kunikida, knowing that even though he had let them down in becoming less than half his age, they wouldn't let him down.

That's what a family was.


	3. Chapter 3

Eventually, the family became adept at their chores, and so massive windows of time opened up. Kunikida and Chuuya reserved the bed for nighttime now, and instead began exploring the outside and inside. There was a dollhouse for Atsushi to play in while Chuuya swung on the swings and Kunikida pulled weeds around the hedges, trimming a few back. Then he and Kunikida would switch.

They explored the inside together, Atsushi running ahead several feet, investigating one spot in particular, and then tearing off again when Chuuya and Kunikida caught up. They would idly chat, talk about how interesting it was now that Atsushi turned into a tiger cub every night, wonder how Dazai was getting along without them, how far away they were from utter catastrophe...

They needn't have worried.

Stephen King was getting rather bored with them now, and decided to throw Chuuya a treat he couldn't resist.

* * *

Chuuya sat alone at the bar one night, feeling like he had to go there. Kunikida was wrestling with Atsushi to tucker him out before bed, and he had told Chuuya to go for a walk to settle his nerves.

The calming walk took him to the empty bar, full of empty glasses and napkins, and not a single drop of alcohol.

"Tch," Chuuya muttered, looking down at the shiny table top. He ran his fingers over it, chuckling at the feel of waxed wood under his fingers again. When he looked up, there was a bottle.

Red wine.

A note with fancy script reading:

_Enjoy~_

_-The Management_

"Can do!" Chuuya opened the bottle and poured it into a wine glass he pulled from under the counter. He sniffed the liquid slowly, then sipped it. Within moments, the glass was downed and refilled. Thank the god of wine and feast.

Red wine.

It didn't take long for Chuuya to finish the bottle. When he did, he teetered around the ballroom and took a slow seat at the corner by the jukebox, tapping it. "I-I don't have any quarters," he hiccuped. "No need for pocket change!"

A few less-than-gentle taps on the buttons got it humming out Glen Miller, and Chuuya spun, tilting his hat to an invisible woman.

Blonde, green-eyed, and in a tight beige dress. A row of buttons down the front glittered in the light.

Kida. His lovely Kida.

He cackled and went to sweep him against his chest, but he found himself embracing a hat rack.

"Dazai would-" he hiccuped, pulling himself away, "-never let me live that down...This stays between you and me, gorgeous."

"Chuuya~!"

Chuuya looked up, blinking his drunkeness away (and failing). He stumbled to the stairs and yawned. "Kida?"

"Come to bed, baby. It's late."

Gladly! A nice nap with his Kunikida and then he'll track down the manager living in the hotel with them and give him a piece of his mind!

However, an entire search of the hotel proved that he and Atsushi were the only men...and Kunikida was the only breasted man.

"Tch..."

Kunikida had noticed Chuuya's drunken behavior, but knew that there was no booze around for miles. Frost was approaching, warning of incoming snow. Atsushi wasn't the only one that couldn't wait for the blankets of white.

Kunikida wanted the worst to be over. Once the snow piled in, less and less things would be able to be done, and he'd have his husband back, just as he was before...

Atsushi was tugging Kida's hair, knotting it instead of braiding it like he had promised he would. "What's...red rum?"

"Chuuya asked me about that earlier. It sounds like something a pirate might drink."

"Or Daddy!"

Daddy...yes, Chuuya had become much like a father to Atsushi, probably because Chuuya didn't really know his own.

"True. Do you think he is drinking?" He slowly turned, the knotted rat's nest falling out of Atsushi's hands and over his shoulder.

Atsushi was looking at him wide-eyed, then guiltily. "I...I smelled wine last night, Mommy..."

"But...?"

"But there is none here...isn't there?"

"That's right, baby. There's no wine." Kida stood and lifted Atsushi, sighing. "You know what we can do? We can go down to the basement with Daddy and check the rattraps."

Atsushi's eyes brightened and he kicked against him, squealing in delight. "Really?"

"Really. Sniff him out."

* * *

Chuuya found himself down in the basement (and almost as far away from the mysterious bar as possible) with his little family. Atsushi was running around with rattraps, some full, some empty, some with pieces of rat. Chuuya doubted Atsushi didn't eat one or six. The tiger was growing stronger and hungrier every night. Kida had the scratch marks on his arms to prove it.

Kunikida backed out of one of the closests, pinching his nose and sighing loudly. "Ugh...Chuuya, take this!"

A metal typewriter found itself cradled in Chuuya's arms. The scent of rat urine blew him down and he and Kida made a hasty retreat.

"Gross," Atsushi giggled, closing the closet and skipping over to the typewriter. "Pretty." He poked some of the keys, stumbling back when the letters stamped into the roll and the whole thing shook the table, nails squeaking in their wooden prisons.

"Easy," Chuuya gasped, pulling him away from a set trap. "Those are for the rats, not for you." He kissed his nose and he chuckled softly.

Atsushi giggled and sniffed, skipping over to what Kunikida found. "What's that?"

"It's a scrapbook. Look at all these people. They used to come here." He chuckled and he kissed his cheek, pulling him into his lap and nuzzling his face into Atsushi's. "Ooh, look at this one..."

Atsushi touched one of them, squealing. "Pretty!"

"Oh yes, she's very pretty."

"Like you!"

"Yes," Kunikida chuckled. "Like me..."

Chuuya sat by Kida, purring at the pictures and slowly taking possession of the book. "Jeez, some of these people look familiar."

"What do you mean by that?" Kunikida kissed his temple, purring.

"Her I've seen," he said, tapping the picture of a woman by a hat rack, apparently flirting with it. "She kinda looks like you. Blonde, green eyes...she always wore this beige dress with buttons down the front."

"How do you know? The picture's black and white." Atsushi was peering down at it.

Kunikida chuckled. "I think Daddy's mind has run away on the Imagination Train." He took Chuuya's hands and made him close the book. "Come on. Let's go make a snack."

Chuuya sighed as he put the book aside. He knew he didn't hallucinate...and it wasn't a manifestation from the wine.

Red wine.

He licked his lips, trying to remember what the delicious wine tasted like...

But the memory felt ages old and miles away.

Damn.

* * *

Kunikida rolled sushi to Atsushi's delight. He was licking the sticky rice off his fingers, and therefore was unable to help, but he quickly became Kunikida's cheerleader.

"Tighter! More fish! More rice! Yay!"

Chuuya poured sauce in a bowl, dabbing wasabe on a small plate. He watched Atsushi's eyes glow as he tried some of Kunikida's sushi and he chuckled at his expression. "Isn't it good?"

"Yeah!"

Kunikida rubbed his head and he kissed both men's heads, kissing Chuuya deeply and backing him up to the counter where he sat him, notching himself between his thighs. "You're so beautiful."  
Chuuya's eyes fluttered open and he smiled at the words, ducking his head and blushing. He tucked long pieces of hair behind his ear, shrugging. "I suppose I am..."

Kunikida smirked and he kissed his cheek. "I have a surprise for you..."

* * *

"Doppo Poet," Kunikida whispered, ripping out a page and holding up the sex toy he spawned. "Dazai doodles profanity in here all the time.." He chuckles, setting the toy on Chuuya's naked stomach, sliding it up and down, slowly rubbing it up against his member and then dropping it to his opening.

Chuuya gasped, closing his eyes as he tried to imagine it as Kunikida's thick rod and not a thick toy. When it started spreading him open, he arched and moaned at the feel, crying out when inch after glorious inch slid deeper inside.

It was ribbed, dotted with dull points, and vibrated sweetly within him at the push of a button.

"D-Dazai has good taste..."

Kunikida smiled and he kissed Chuuya slowly, starting to thrust the toy. "Just lay back and enjoy it. I promise you will."

He was right. He was always right. His promises were well placed, his vows well made, and his sentences structured after several second's thought. Chuuya, meanwhile, tended to blurt anything that crossed his mind.

"You're so fucking hot...fucking me with a toy like this. Taking your damn time. Dazai would have been done by now."

Kunikida leaned back over him, laying his breasts on his chest. He dropped his voice to a low growl. "Let's not talk about Dazai anymore..."

Chuuya cried out and arched. The toy was suddenly thrusted deeply into him and the vibrations picked up till his legs quivered. "K-Kida..."

But the blonde turned his head away and watched Chuuya's member twitch and spit sticky liquid onto his stomach. Without warning, Chuuya found himself pulsing in Kunikida's mouth.

If this was punishment for rocking Kida's world with pained pleasure and then cleaning him up delicately, Chuuya thought, then he should have to do that more often.

* * *

In the early morning, Chuuya devoted hours to clearing out the basement and discovering more secrets. He swore he was sipping at a bottle of water, but the more he drank, the more it stung his throat like wine. When he looked, it _was_ a wine bottle.

Red wine.

A card taped to the back declared it was from the management again.

"Thank you, mysterious manager..." He knocked back a few more swigs before looking down at the scrapbook.

* * *

Stephen King sat back from typing, cracking his knuckles absently. Mori was reading over his shoulder.

"Does there have to be so much damn sex? Why does Chuuya get wine?"

"I want him to trust me completely, so when I put a mallet in his hands, well..." He looked at Mori, pushing his white hair out of his face. "He won't question me. You want the weretiger and the poet dead, right? This is my way. I indulge him. I make him my bitch."

"Just...leave out so much sex...they're having way too much fun."

King snorted and looked back at his work. Mori left him to write.

_And when Chuuya finished, Kunikida had spawned more toys than Chuuya knew what to do with. They had amazing sex for four nights before everything changed._

King looked at the two sentences he had written, musing at how much something can change with such few words. In the blink of an eye, he had given Kunikida and Chuuya everything they wanted, and with another blink, it was ripped out from under their feet.

_That was when,_ King wrote, _Atsushi started seeing the blood_.

* * *

"MOMMY!!!"  
Kunikida pulled out of his sleep, moaning.

Chuuya sat up, smacking his lips loudly. He could still taste Kunikida. "Who's Mommy again?"

"The breasted one," Kida groaned and he hauled ass to Atsushi, sinching his robe around his form. "What is it, baby? Come here..."

"B-blood..."

Chuuya choked and he looked at the child's book he had been reading. "Where, baby?"

"Everywhere! On the walls, in the book, on me..." He burst into sobs, grabbing at Chuuya and then Kunikida, pressing his face into their necks and sagging. "You won't let them hurt me, will you?"

"No, Atsu," Chuuya whispered. "Never in a million years."

But the little cub looked unconvinced. He sniffled and hid deeper into Kunikida. "Okay..."

Before Kunikida could carry Atsushi into their room, he made Chuuya shut the blinds and draw the shades, securing them firmly into place so that the moon could not be seen.

"This is ridiculous," Chuuya said finally, crossing his arms. "We can all use our abilities. Why can't we use them to escape?"

"Because that's not what King is writing. This isn't an escape-the-haunted-hotel story. This is...a horror story."


	4. Chapter 4

It didn't take long for Chuuya to realize that every time he came to the bar while Kunikida and Atsushi were busy, there would be a bottle of wine waiting for him. Sometimes, during his drunken episodes (the fewer and fewer ones he had with so much wine in his system) featured dancers spinning in circles around him during a waltz, and then when the musicians on the stage picked up their beat, the dancers picked up the pace and burst into a leg-kicking dance. Some of the women were dressed like flappers, and others had on heavy fabric and stuck to their waltz, even if the timing was off by a hair.

Once he had imagined a bartender, cooing over each glass he poured Chuuya.

"Such a kind, kind caretaker," he would purr. "The best yet. The only caretaker. The best, absolute best."

"Tell that to Kida," Chuuya grunted to the vision. "Oh,  he doesn't get it. He wants to leave as soon as possible. He wants to leave this glorious hotel...just look at this place! It's so beautiful! The whole Mafia and Agency could live here and never notice! This is the ideal home...why can't Kida see it?"

"It takes a special man to see it, I suppose."

"You got that right, you handsome beast," Chuuya praised, knocking back the whole glass of wine, rubbing feeling into his hands. His brain had gone fuzzy hours ago. Where was Kida again?

"Sir, I'm afraid we have a rule-breaker," the bartender whispered. "It's...the cub."

"What about him?" Chuuya sat up, scowling. "What's the damn pup been doing...?"

"He's...in one of the guest rooms, sir."

"Atsushi...you fucking pup..."

* * *

Atsushi ran around the corner, chasing Kunikida on all fours, squealing as he stopped outside one of the rooms. He opened the door to change the sheets (what for?!) and patted Atsushi on the head.

"Wanna help me?" He passed him the key to keep track of. "You can put the pillows in the pillow cases."

"Tempting," Atsushi giggled. "But I think I wanna explore."

"If you change your mind, I'm in 209. Remember that, okay?"

"Okay!" Atsushi hugged him quickly and then sprinted off, the tiger in him pushing him on his hands and feet, but the boy wanted to sprint as a boy. The moon wasn't out. He was gonna run.

He started to sing off the numbers, turning 'round and 'round till the hallway spun and the colors smeared like watercolor. He burst into hysterics, collapsing on the floor and making a Lint Angel (what Chuuya called it when he saw Atsushi sprawled on his back, moving his arms and legs wildly when he knew the vacuuming hadn't been done. "Making Lint Angels again, are we, Atsu?")

"Atsushi."

The boy sat up and blinked around. "Kida?"

No response. Who called him?

"Mommy!"

Kunikida poked his head out and frowned. "What is it, baby?"

"Did you call me?"

"No, love."

"Okay~!"

Kunikida shook his head and chuckled, going back to pointlessly rotating the sheets. Atsushi laid back down and rolled over onto his stomach, kicking his legs against the floor.

"Atsushi!"

The same voice. Stern, female, but not Kunikida? Who else was here?

Atsushi pushed himself onto his feet and started walking down the halls, sniffing for outlying scents that didn't belong. He found some eventually, his nose pressed against the crack between the door and the floor.

217.

"Hello?"

"Come in..."  
Atsushi tried the nob, twisting it this way and that before realizing it was locked. He pulled the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

It swung open and the scent of perfume greeted his nose. Also, there was the slight hint of blood.

"Hello?"

"I'm in the bathroom."

"Huh?" Atsushi stopped in his tracks in the middle of the living space. The door swung closed and locked.

From the outside.

"Mommy!"

* * *

Chuuya, fuming in the elevator, kept hearing the number two-hundred-seventeen in his ear. Where had he heard that number from?

Then he realized with a start that he hadn't _heard_ it anywhere. He read it. In one of the books he read, he had seen that in the room 217, a woman had committed suicide in the bathroom. She went in with her lover (her husband in Florida), stayed three days, and never came back out. She had slit her wrists in the tub.

When the elevator stopped, Chuuya squeezed out, hissing and spitting curses as he stormed by the doors. His angry words must have alerted Kunikida to danger, because he hurried out of 209 and followed him.

"Atsushi is in one of the guest rooms," Chuuya spat over his shoulder.

"No, he's exploring! He said he wouldn't go into any of the guest rooms!"

"Does he have the key?!"

"Y-yes! I gave it to him for safe keeping!" Kunikida grabbed his wrist, earning a slap.

"Damn it, Doppo. He's a menace. He'll go where ever he wants whenever he wants! Haven't you figured that out?" he roared, spinning on his heel and marching off, knocking sternly on 217. "ATSUSHI!"

Alcohol.

Chuuya smelled like alcohol.

But why? Where? HOW!?

"Chuuya! He's just a baby!"

"He's six! At that age, I was sucking my dad's dick. At that age, I had my uncle's jammed so far up my ass-"

The door swung open.

Chuuya and Kunikida looked down and saw Atsushi gazing up at them, wet from head to toe and dripping water from his hair. Red marks turning purple appeared on his neck, as though he had been strangled. Lipstick in the shape of lips was pressed into his cheek. He said nothing, trembling from shock. Tears rolled down his face.

Kunikida snatched him up, crying out. "Atsu! What happened, baby?"

Chuuya blinked at the sight of Atsushi. What happened? "Tell us, kiddo...what happened?" He reached out to touch his head, but Kunikida was crow-hopping back, hissing.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM! YOU DID THIS, DIDN'T YOU?!"

"How could I have? You were with me!"

"Just now, but what about earlier?" Kunikida marched to the stairs, taking two at a time, his apron flapping audibly, now wet and sticking to his belly and chest. "Bastard," Kunikida cursed over his shoulder at the pursuing redhead. "I can't believe you would do such a thing!"

"But I didn't!"

He didn't, right?

* * *

Kunikida rocked with Atsushi in their room, humming a lullaby to the trembling cub. "Sing with me, Atsushi. Won't you sing?" He stroked his head, whimpering softly.

Chuuya knelt on the floor in front of Kunikida, rubbing his hand down Atsushi's back and back up to his shoulder were he squeezed lightly. "Hey, little cub...sing with Mommy. I know you like to sing."

Then Chuuya spied something on Atsushi's cheek, scowling. He had seen it before and dismissed it, too caught up in being accused of something he (probably) didn't do. He touched the lipstick mark, looking at Kunikida. "What's that?"

Kunikida touched the mark, wiping some off on his finger and sniffing it. "It's lipstick."

Chuuya sat back and crossed his arms, tilting his head. "It's not my shade, honey."

"Chuuya," Kunikida sighed, pinching between his eyes. "You can't believe that I would do such a thing. You were with me."

"True, but what about earlier? I was downstairs in the ballroom sitting at the bar doing paperwork. You were upstairs with Atsushi the whole time."

"Chuuya..."

Atsushi gasped and came alive, squirming and wriggling out of Kunikida's arms and throwing himself at Chuuya, screaming _it was her! it was her!_

Kunikida got up, squeaking. "Who?"

Chuuya stood, holding Atsushi against his hip. "Kida..."

"Chuuya, you don't believe-"

"I don't believe. But it's not nice being accused, is it?" Chuuya took Kunikida's hand and led them to the kitchen where he started cooking rice and boiling water for tea, taking leftover chicken and chucking it into the rice pot. While Chuuya worked to create Atsushi's favorite meal, Kunikida made hot chocolate from scratch and gave Atsushi the smallest mug available. Chuuya put a lovely spiral of whipped cream on it for him.

"Hot chocolate," Atsushi whipsered, giggling. "I love this stuff."

"I know you do." Chuuya kissed his head, pulling Kunikida closer and kissing his cheek. "Tell us what happened, cub? Why were you in 217?"

Atsushi whimpered and looked down, setting the mug aside and pushing his hands into his lap. "I didn't wanna go into that room, Daddy. I knew what you said about staying out of the guest rooms unless Mommy was in there...and then not to break anything...but I was being called! There was someone in there, Daddy! I thought she was friendly. She said she wanted to see me and wanted to play a game, and at first I was okay with it. Mommy was busy and you were drinking, and I wanted a playmate, so I unlocked the door and walked in, but she said she was in the bathroom! Why would you play in the bathroom? I smelled blood, too, Daddy. Perfume, mostly, but blood, and a lot of it. I went to see if she was okay, and she was in the tub, Daddy, bleeding out of her wrists and her makeup was smeared like she had been crying. She got out of the tub and chased me to the door. She drug me to the tub and strangled me, telling me how she was going to do it to you, Daddy, soon...very soon, she said. And then she pushed me into the tub and held me under the water. But I heard you and Mommy shouting, and I started kicking and she pulled me out and threw me in front of the door and told me that we'd play later. Before she left, she kissed my cheek...Daddy, it was awful!"

Kunikida rocked back on his heels, whining at the images Atsushi described.

Chuuya held his breath the entire time, pinching between his eyes. "It's King. He's on the move. He's trying to kill us and put a wedge between us."

Kunikida frowned and looked at him. "How come he's not governing our speech? Would you really be able to say that if he was in charge?"

"I guess he can't do as much as he thought he could."

* * *

"New rules. We stay together. No trailing off, no exploring-" Chuuya broke off to tickle Atsushi, who laughed and collapsed into the couch in their apartment, kicking his legs, "-and no going alone. We don't rush off to investigate strange noises. We stay here, or we stay in the group."

Atsushi held his hand up, sitting back on his butt. "Like a school of fishies!"

"Like a school of fishies," Chuuya purred, rubbing his nose against Atsushi's. "Or a wolf pack. Or a whale pod. Or-"

"-Or people who don't wanna die," Kunikida finished, earning a kiss.

"Kunikida gets first prize."

"No fair!"

"All's fair in love and war, Atsu!" Chuuya tickled the cub again.

"This isn't war!"

"Isn't it?"

"No!"

Kunikida chuckled as he watched and he stood slowly, wishing he had a camera to save this moment forever. Instead, he dedicated the sounds of Atsushi's squealing laughter and Chuuya's playful growls to memory.


	5. Chapter 5

The thing about locking yourself into a room and living there for almost a week is that you eventually get tired and cooped up...also, you can't get hurt by the things moving around outside your door, dripping water and blood alike, cooing for Atsushi and begging for Chuuya. Fingers hooked under the door and left greedy gouges in the wood. But the family ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner in spite of the horrors just outside.

Stephen King was getting furious. Nothing was going as planned anymore. He tried inserting a few of his ghouls straight into the room. He tried coaxing out Chuuya for just one last bottle of wine. He tried everything to get his foot in the door, but the family had closed themselves off.

"That's it!" he shouted, shoving himself away from his desk. He had taken up residence in Mori's room, allowing the man to pamper him just as he had pampered Dazai. "They're impossible to get at! They've locked themselves in the room. I can't get them out."

Mori was yawning pitifully, rolling over and whining. He had urgent need of the bathroom. "Dazai once told me that the best way to move someone was when they were sleeping, and not just sleeping, in REM sleep. When their brains froze their bodies and they were in the deepest stage possible...like draining the ocean to get to the darkest lurking creatures. They'll be the last to know of your intentions."

Inspiration pricked in his fingers and the steady clacking of keys filled the room.

* * *

Chuuya went to sleep in Kunikida's arms. He knew this for sure because that night, Kunikida had said very sweet things and Chuuya had been treated to kisses and licks scattered all over his body.

But when Chuuya woke, he wasn't on a mattress. He didn't feel Kunikida's warmth, didn't feel Atsushi's small body pressed against his back.

His eyes flew open.

He was lying on the floor of one of the hotel rooms. Fear sparked through his body, lighting his toes uncomfortably on fire. He sat up and hopped to his feet, whirling around to gauge his surroundings.

Then he started shutting every door, securing himself in the smallest room possible: the bathroom.

He sat between the wall and the toilet, rocking back and forth and sobbing quietly. He didn't know why this was happening. They almost made it a week in the room. They were almost...

Quiet splashing from the tub made him quiet and he held his breath.

"Chuuya, help me out of the tub."

It sounded like Kida. But Chuuya knew in his gut it wasn't Kida. He started to get up, moving towards the door and sobbing in fear.

The woman inside the tub sat up faster than humanly possible and she tilted her head, grinning. It was the woman in the beige dress.

He was in room 217. It was only a short run up the elevator and then down the hall on the left to get back home.

He opened the door and ran through, slamming the door shut and propping a chair under the knob, shoving the knuckle of his index finger against his teeth to keep the sobs and the teeth-chattering to himself.

He backed out of the door and into the hall, turning to run and-

He slammed into the chest of Horace Derwent, the former owner of the hotel. Chuuya knew this because of his tag on his lapel:

HORACE DERWENT

OWNER & MANAGER

"Where are you going so fast?" he cooed, taking Chuuya's hands into his own. He had on a dog mask and proceeded to nuzzle Chuuya, exhaling hotly. There was a hardness in Horace's slacks that Chuuya couldn't get away from.

"Why don't you stay here forever? Isn't this a lovely hotel? I think it's absolutely gorgeous." He took off the mask and let it drop. "Like me."

His face was thin and pale. The skin around his eyes was dark and puffy. Chuuya could see his cheek bones jutting out, and could picture his skull with horrifying ease. His whole body was bones, Chuuya realized, pressed between him and the wall. Kunikida had generous layers of fat and rippling muscle. Even Dazai had a lovely body that Chuuya loved to feel over his, muscle pushing firmly against Chuuya's stomach.

But all Chuuya felt was bone. Cold, hard, solid. Where did the warmth go?

"You're so lovely," Derwent whispered, taking Chuuya's chin into his skeleton-hand, squeezing. "You could be one of us. You could live forever here. Every day is a party in the Overlook."

"Tempting," Chuuya choked out, spitting in his face. "But I like my life."

It was easy to weasel out of Derwent's arms, not so much to keep ahead of him. Derwent always seemed to be on his ass, glued to his heels. Chuuya ran so hard and so fast, Dazai, he was sure, would be amazed.

But his lungs were aching from all his smoking, and his stomach was waiting for just the smallest excuse to purge. When he got to his apartment, tears flooded his eyes.

It was locked.

Kunikida and Atsushi were curled up, safe and happy and warm.

Chuuya was outside with the ghouls and ghosts of the Overlook, shivering and bawling and trapped.

* * *

Kunikida woke to hoarse coughing and choking sobs. He sat upright when he noticed Chuuya's absense. He first searched the apartment, crying out when he didn't find Chuuya anywhere. "Chuuya?!"

"I'm out here!" The knocking came furiously and the sob sounded relieved. "Kida, doll, help me! Horace is coming! Let me in, baby, please!"

Kunikida's hand hovered over the knob, uncertain. What if it was one of the Overlook's tricks? He checked under the door, finding Chuuya's shoes, and no water or blood or foul stench.

"KIDA, PLEASE!"

Kunikida ripped open the door after undoing every lock and found Chuuya in his arms, slick with sweat and shivering. Chuuya turned and locked the door back up, sliding a chair under the knob.

"You're okay now, baby," Kida whispered, stroking Chuuya's hair.

Chuuya's breathing slowed, and then his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed.

* * *

Kunikida held his beloved the rest of the night, soothing him as best as he could despite the insistent moanings outside their door and the scribblings of REDRUM everywhere on the walls, on the ceiling...once, after catching one of the words in in the mirror, Kunikida discovered the meaning.

Read backwards, it clearly said MURDER.

Atsushi cleaned up the red declarations as best as he could and instead starting painting his friends, taking extra special care to include Dazai and the Director to give Chuuya peace of mind.

"D-Dazai," Chuuya cooed once, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Will I ever see your fugly face again?"

"Most likely," Kunikida whispered, rocking with him as he chuckled. "He's probably getting us out of here right now..."

* * *

Dazai sipped on one of Ranpo's juice boxes as he strolled into Mafia territory, slipping through alleys and under the blindspots of Mafia security. He scooted right up the wall (though it took almost an hour of bearing through evil pigeons and brisk wind), and he stepped foot on Mori's balcony.

The whole thing took six hours from midnight to six in the morning, but it would all be worth it.

No one had the opportunity to torture Chuu Chuu to death with unimaginable horrors...no one except Dazai. Weeks of pranks, wasted. He'd never catch up now.

Dazai had slipped in and out of Mafia headquarters before. The technique wasn't foreign to him, but it always surprised Mori when the man woke up with Dazai nuzzling him.

When the Agent walked in and flicked the curtains open, he saw Mori sleeping (as usual), but there was another body with him.

Stephen King.

He had been replaced.

Good for Mori.

Dazai skipped over and jumped onto the bed, standing over the pair of men and cackling. "I found you~"

Mori sent a flying kick to Dazai's gut, getting up and calling for security. "How'd you get in _this_ time?"

Dazai laid on the floor, groaning. "You missed my ribs...I better have internal bleeding. If I don't, I'm climbing down from the chimney again."

"THERE IS NO DAMN CHIMNEY!"

King watched Dazai sit up and blink.

"Well then. This is awkward."

Guards appeared in Mori's room, surrounding Dazai immediately and aiming guns at him. Dazai looked like he was in absolute heaven.

Mori waved them apart so he could see Dazai, and he groaned in disgust. "Guns won't work...what do you want, Dazai?"

"I want my Chuu Chuu and my apprentice back. And I guess while I'm at it, you're just gonna have to let Kida out too." Dazai got up and smiled. "If you don't do it manually, I can always give your new toy a poke."

Mori smirked. "If you do that, they'll be stuck in Stephen's universe forever."

Dazai snorted. "Yeah...can't have that..."

"And I'm afraid we can't just hand them over, either. You still have to give us what we want."

"No deal, Mori. I'm not going back to the Mafia."  
"Then you can wish your friends good luck."

Dazai sighed and walked over to the typewriter, stroking it gently. It was just an ordinary typewriter. The power laid in King's hands. The guards watched him carefully, guns readied despite Mori's warnings.

"Good luck, Chuu Chuu."

* * *

Chuuya rocked back and forth in a rocking chair, sitting in it sidways and pretending it was Kouyou, the closest thing he had to a mother. His own mother had jumped off a cliff after discovering that her son was a freak just like his dad, and his dad raised him as a Mafioso before disappearing. It was Kouyou who slipped him food, taught him to read and write...taught him how to live.

Kunikida read his Ideals to Chuuya, Atsushi sitting on his lap and doodling in his own notebook. They had been in the room for two weeks, and there was nothing they could really do except sleep and eat and visit the toilet every once in a while.

"Dazai's gonna save us," Atsushi suddenly said, writing it quickly into his notebook and ripping the page out, where he folded it into an airplane and threw it to Chuuya.

It landed in his lap and Chuuya stared at it.

Kunikida chuckled down at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm telling the future!" Atsushi held up his notebook. The word FUTURE had been spelled (and re-spelled) across the front. "It only becomes the future if I turn it into a paper airplane, Mommy."

"Oh, right."

"That's my ability."

"Of course it is."

"It's a second part to it. Like Chuuya's!"

"That's very useful, baby."

Chuuya stood slowly, looking at Atsushi. "Say that again."

"My second part to my ability is-"

"Corruption!"

"No, Daddy. It's the ability to tell the future."

"Baby," Chuuya said, rushing over to Atsushi and taking his hands. "Corruption can destroy the hotel. It can destroy this whole damn world."

Kunikida sighed. "It's too dangerous without Dazai."

"I'm NOT letting you live out your days here! We have to do it! It's our only chance. Dazai is not coming to save us. We have to save ourselves."

Atsushi looked ready to cry at the exchange. Lose Chuuya? Dazai wasn't coming? Release Corruption? It was all too much. Atsushi threw his notebook aside and took off to cry into his mattress.

Kunikida stood up and took Chuuya's face into his hands. "You are not releasing Corruption. We can last to the end. We have to. Please don't release it, baby...I can't live without you."


	6. Chapter 6

Chuuya sat awake in bed, listening to the spirits outside his door, calling his name and pushing dishes of wine under the door. He was tempted to sample it, but the wine in the dark looked like blood and he felt ready to purge at the thought of the thick liquid oozing down his throat and-  
Chuuya bolted to the bathroom, hugging the toilet for support. Up came dinner: bread and rice. They were running out of food.  
He sat back and groaned, sighing. To make another run to the kitchen would practically be suicide. There were so many spirits now...  
Chuuya growled and stood up, hugging his stomach to make sure whatever didn't come up the first time stayed down.  
Kunikida walked to him, holding the last bag of rice. "Mice..."  
Mice...  
Chuuya got up and saw the last meal they had soaked in pee and speckled with crap. Chuuya felt like going back to the toilet, but he choked the words out.  
"We gotta get to the kitchen..."  
Kunikida nodded.  
After rousing Atsushi, the trio went tentatively to the kitchen, avoiding the bubbly voices from hallways and rooms, slinking by even though they knew the spirits weren't fooled.  
Was it too much to ask for a simple stroll to the kitchen?  
* * *  
Kunikida grabbed canned goods, stuffing them down his shirt. Atsushi grabbed what he could, which was mostly snacks, but Chuuya praised him just the same, his own shirt full of frozen foods. Kunikida and Chuuya used their free hands to gather anything else that they might need or want, which included bread and lunchmeat.  
Then they were running back to their apartment, catcalls and purrs chasing them as the whole hotel's ghoul crew came running after.  
Chuuya locked every lock, panting heavily. "We...we made it...right...?"  
After a slow, unsure nod from Kunikida, they started restocking the shelves.  
Atsushi ate the mice for lunch.  
Dinner was ham, and filled the room with the delicious smells. Chuuya and Kunikida both realized how much weight they've lost from their diet of rice and sauce, and Atsushi almost ate half by himself.  
"We'll make weekly runs," Kunikida vowed, marking certain days on their calendar they made by carving into the kitchen wall.  
Chuuya nodded as he watched, sighing. "Sounds good..."  
Kunikida cupped Chuuya's chin, making the redhead look at him. "I know this isn't your ideal vacation, but I need your head in the game...can you do that?"  
He nodded, relieved that Kunikida got him. "Yes, sir."  
* * *  
King threw the latest disappointment chapter at Mori, who scoffed and flipped through the papers absently. He took King's hand into his own, pulling him down and then forcing him into the bed. "What is this?"  
"They resist me, Mori." He reached up and touched his face, sighing. "I'm trying."  
"Just kill them! Kill them all!"  
"Okay."  
* * *  
Chuuya slipped out of the room, locking the door behind him. Horace found him, and nuzzled his dog mask against his face again, insisting on cuddles and kisses. Chuuya marched right by him, heading to the basement where few voices were, save a few.  
"Stop...I can feel it..."  
"Really? How about this?"  
Gunshot.  
Chuuya slid the door shut and he locked himself with the boiler, staring up at the safety valve that dropped steam and boiling liquid, hissing and sputtering. It was like an elephant, furiously steaming as it was locked down in the coldest room of the hotel, forced to be kept out of the festivities and then not even thanked for all its hard work.  
The redhead slowly took off his gloves, and the boiler glowed red. "Will work for peanuts?"  
He lightened it, significantly, and then he tore it out of its prison. "I told Kida I wouldn't use Corruption. But For the Tainted Sorrow wants to play too."  
* * *  
King woke at the sound of keys clacking and he ran to the typewriter, trying to keep the machine from typing exactly what it was doing. "No, no no no!"  
Mori sat up slowly and he walked over, crossing his arms. "They're writing their story again? Such a disappointing ability."  
King slammed his hands down on the table and he stared in horror as everything he crafted, everything he fashioned specifically for Chuuya and Kunikida and the weretiger...  
It all collapsed with a few lines of text.  
"It seems you have limits, King," Mori growled. "I'm disappointed in you. Dazai didn't have limits. You said you were better than Dazai. You said you knew what you were doing."  
King tried to tap on the keys, but they rejected him. He started taking apart the typewriter, searching for some explanation. He found nothing, just clacking and excited keys eager to write an end to their master.  
"Good-bye, King."  
* * *  
Dazai was walking home, having stolen another one of Ranpo's juice boxes. He could easily imagine what was going on in Mafia territory.  
Every ability had a limit, especially if it was new. Stephen King had only been exercising his ability before. This was the first time he was using it. It was why he couldn't order his characters around like he had desired to, because they were not truly his own.  
He suspected that Chuuya and the rest would be waking up peacefully in their beds where they left them last.  
He detoured through an alleyway and leaned against the bricks at the sight of three beautiful men tangled together. "Well, hello."  
* * *  
Author's Note:

I FINISHED IT JUST TO FINISH IT I'm SORRY.  
NAILED IT~


End file.
